“Somewhere, Pat Riley is shrugging,” wrote Skip Bayless on X, taking a dig at Jimmy Butler after the Golden State Warriors’ 2nd consecutive defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves. It is no secret that the Warriors’ fortunes turned for the better once the team acquired the veteran from the Miami Heat in February. Stephen Curry himself credited Butler for getting the team to the playoffs, stating, “That’s why we’re here. I mean, we were what, 10th place, uh, at one point in February, and you know, finished the year with a sense of urgency on the run, to even get it to the play-in to give ourselves a chance”.

However, with Stephen Curry sidelined, Butler and the Warriors have struggled against the Timberwolves. While things are bad, they could also be worse. Amongst the things that could make the situation worse for the Warriors was if Butler got sidelined for Game 4. Fortunately, we now know that the same won’t happen.

According to the Golden State Warriors Injury Report, as highlighted by ESPN, Jimmy Butler’s name is nowhere to be found. This means that, unless an emergency occurs, the player will be fully available to take on Tyrese Haliburton and Co. in the coming hours. It also means that the player’s troubles with his prior injury are behind him. For now.

Jimmy Butler had sustained what was then reportedly presumed to be a pelvic contusion during the 1st quarter of Game 2 of the Warriors-Rockets. While going for a rebound, Rockets forward Amen Thompson undercut Butler. This caused the veteran to fall to the floor. Hard! The visual of the Dubs star lying on the basketball court, writhing in pain, did not paint a good picture. After the Warriors lost by a 109-94 score, Draymond Green participated in a presser, and said, “Jimmy’s only gonna tell you he feel good. Like, he will lie, of course. So, we’ll see. He’s giving me zero reasons to not believe anything he says. So, I do believe”.

A few days later, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Jimmy Butler had been diagnosed with a deep glute muscle contusion. Butler had avoided any fracture or structural damage, but he still missed one game against the Rockets. Fortunately, Cameron Brink’s favorite player is now as healthy as one can be.

The only player listed on the Warriors Injury Report, as of now, is Stephen Curry. The 3-point leader had sustained his NBA career’s first-ever Hamstring Injury during Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It could not have come at a worse time. Now, Butler and his teammates are left to their own devices to carve a path for the Western Conference Finals. Their obstacle—the team headed by the player who was No. 4 in the league in scoring average.

While Butler can surely handle taking the offensive lead, he can make use of some good assistance from teammates like Draymond Green, Buddy Hield, Jonathan Kuminga (if used in the rotation), etc.

As for the Minnesota Timberwolves, no player is listed on the Injury Report! Rob Dillingham had earlier sustained a sprained left ankle before the beginning of the playoff series. He missed 9 consecutive games. This includes all 3 of the matchups against the Warriors, all 5 of the Timberwolves-Lakers series games, and the team’s season finale game against the Utah Jazz around mid-April. Fortunately, it was recently reported that Dillingham will suit up and will be an option in the backcourt for the Timberwolves. However, the rookie isn’t expected to play significant minutes.

In light of these updates, changes are expected in the starting lineups of both franchises.

What will the starting lineup and depth chart for the Warriors-Timberwolves game look like?

According to RotoWire, Stephen Curry will not be re-evaluated until next week. In his absence, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Buddy Hield, and Brandin Podziemski will be required to step up. It remains to be seen just how much time Steve Kerr will give to Jonathan Kuminga, as the coach had earlier expressed, back in mid-April, “I have to read who’s playing well together. And to be very frank, the Jimmy / JK (Kuminga) combination has not been great, and that’s the tricky part here”.

In light of this, the starting lineup for the Golden State Warriors is expected to look like this:

Anthony Edwards, along with Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert, should be more than enough to handle things on the offensive front. While it is good to have Rob Dillingham back, he is the tertiary point guard. With this update, the starting lineup for the Minnesota Timberwolves is expected to look like this:

The Golden State Warriors or the Minnesota Timberwolves? Who will you be rooting for? Let us know in the comments section down below.